Guest Profiles

Our country is full of people who have experienced the power and magic of sports. We invited some of these players, sporting icons, coaches, experts and analysts to tell us about the transformative powers of playing a game.

Akhilesh Paul is a senior coach at Slum Soccer, an organization that equips the underprivileged to fight poverty and emerge out of their disadvantages through the medium of football. Previously looked down upon by his family and neighbours for habits such as gambling, stealing and alcohol addiction, Akhilesh rebuilt his life with the power of sport and went ahead to captain India at the 2010 Homeless World Cup. Today, Akhilesh also runs a shoe shop in Nagpur and coaches children from a red-light area in the city. Email:

Professor Vijay Barse is the Founder of Slum Soccer, the organization that has changed Akhilesh Paul’s and many others’ lives. Watching a group of kids play football with a broken plastic bucket led Professor Barse, a physical trainer, to create a platform to empower kids through football classes in Nagpur's biggest slum. In a few years, this snowballed into ‘Jhoparpatti Football’ or ‘Slum Soccer’. Today, through Slum Soccer various children and youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds have played football across the country, and even abroad.Email:
| Website: www.slumsoccer.org

Geeta Phogat is a wrestler who won India's first ever gold medal in women's wrestling at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, in the 55 kg freestyle category. She belongs to Balali, a small village in the Bhiwani district of Haryana. She is also the first ever Indian woman wrestler to have qualified for the Olympic Games. She has numerous other international medals to her credit, including three consecutive medals in the Asian Cadet Championships in 2003, 2004 and 2005.Email:

Babita Phogat is a wrestler who won the gold medal in women’s wrestling at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, in the 55 kg freestyle category. She won the silver medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the same year that her sister won the gold medal. The Phogat sisters have inspired many girls in their village and across the country to actively participate in sporting activities. Email:

Mahabir Phogat is the father of Geeta and Babita, India’s foremost women wrestling champions. While most fathers in rural North India face pressure of getting their daughters married, Mr Phogat had bigger, different dreams for his children. Today, because of his hard work, his daughters have won gold medals at the Commonwealth Games, apart from many other national and international championships.

Shubham Jaglan is a 9-year-old golf champion, from Israna village in Panipat. He has been World Junior Champion and his victory tally in his four-year-long career has been over 120 titles. He learned most of the techniques of playing golf from YouTube videos and today, he has even played with golf legend Gary Players. Shubham owes his success to his family and considers his father, Jagpal Jaglan, as his strongest support. Email:

Amit Luthra is India’s first ever number one golfer. He captained the country for 20 years during which he won the gold medal at the 1982 Asian Games as well as in other tournaments in Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai, Nepal and other Asian countries. He was conferred with the prestigious Arjuna Award in 1996. Today, he helms the affairs at The Golf Foundation, of which he is also the founder, and hones and encourages budding talent from across India to play and excel at golf.Email:
| Website: www.thegolffoundation.net

Saumil Majmudar is the Co-Founder and CEO of EduSports, an organization that creates quality opportunities for children to play sports as an integral part of their academic curriculum. Over the last decade, Mr Majmudar has personally engaged with over 1,00,000 children and 5,000 parents in this context. The EduSports curriculum benefits more than 3,00,000 children in India today and it is a part of more than 400 schools across 80+ cities.Email:
| Website: www.edusports.in

Matthew Spacie is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Magic Bus India Foundation. The organization empowers children through sports and equips them with crucial life skills. Though Mr Spacie started Magic Bus as a weekend volunteer-led activity, today, it is impacting 2,50,000 children through 8,000 youth leaders in 19 states of India and aims to reach out to 1 million children by 2015.Email:
| Website: www.magicbus.org

Parvati Pujari is a commerce graduate from Mumbai. She joined Magic Bus at the age of nine and today, is a trainer and fundraiser for the organization. She is the first girl in her entire community to go to college. Because of Magic Bus and her education, she has been able to challenge conventions in her community such as early marriage and no education for girls.

Vijay Gupta is a 14-year-old living in the Bombay Port Trust slum area. This bright teenager is an active participant of the Magic Bus sport for development programme, and is determined to complete his formal education. Vijay is an avid footballer and aims to be among the first boys in his community to pass Class 12 and enroll in college.

Ritu Pawa is a 14-year-old participant of Magic Bus’ sports for development programme and stays in Delhi's Tughlakabad slums with her parents. Despite living in a very low-income neighbourhood, Ritu is determined to be the first girl in her family to get higher education and a dignified job. She takes a keen interest in dancing as a hobby and often leads groups of up to 50 children in Magic Bus' sport sessions.

Gulafsha Khan is a young woman from a North Delhi resettlement colony who has successfully changed her personal circumstances using the Magic Bus programme. She is deeply interested in promoting girls' education and is now working on leading change for other girls in her neighbourhood. She has also represented Magic Bus at the 2010 FIFA Football for Hope event and at the 2011 Julie Foudy Sports and Leadership Academy.

Rahul Mehra is a noted lawyer and sports activist. His PIL against the BCCI gave the right to every Indian citizen to sue any private sports body besides ensuring accountability and transparency in its functioning. Mr Mehra is also responsible for successfully challenging recognised national sports federations of India by obtaining favourable court orders, limiting the age of its office bearers and restricting the unending tenures of sports administrators. In 2011, his efforts got the National Sports Development Code of India 2011 into action. This code is legal and binding until the Central Government passes the National Sports Development Bill, one that Mr Mehra has been in the drafting committee of.Email:

Sadhguru is an Indian yogi, philanthropist and author of over 100 titles in eight different languages. He is also the Founder of Isha Foundation, an organization that has used sports to break down caste barriers across various communities. Isha Foundation also offers yoga programmes around the world, besides being involved in various social and community development activities.Email:
| Website: www.ishafoundation.org

Swami Rijuda is a yoga teacher and a full-time volunteer with Isha Foundation. He was also involved in implementing the NGO’s Action for Rural Rejuvenation initiative in Sierra Leone, Africa, where he conducted games and yoga programmes for rural people living in conflict areas.Email:
| Website: www.ishafoundation.org

Sampat Ramteke is coach and mentor to the athletes of Mahadwadi village in Maharashtra, all women over 40 years of age, known for their athletic prowess. Mr Ramteke, along with his wife Jaya Ramteke, introduced sports to the lives of these women who have today won medals in various athletic meets and marathons.Email:

Sharda Bhagde, Saraswata Lengure, Suman Gurnule, Dhurpata Korange and Asha Khobragade belong to Mahadwadi village in Maharashtra. While the day-to-day life of these women consists of working in their farms and homes, their other side is revealed on the athletic track. Better known as the Mahadwadi runners, they are renowned track-and-field champions. Along with other women athletes from their village, they secured the top nine positions at the 2009 Nagpur International Marathon. Known for running in their nine-yard sarees or lugdas, they have also won medals at the Vidarbha Veterans Athletic Meet, the Maharashtra State Veterans Athletic Meet and the All India Veterans Athletic Meet.

SPECIAL GUEST: SAINA NEHWAL

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